


Red Like Roses

by gamerprincess13



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Birthday, F/M, Post-Game (Birthright), nightmares mentioned, visiting a grave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2016-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-27 20:39:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6299584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gamerprincess13/pseuds/gamerprincess13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I know I never gave you anything to you for your birthday like everyone else did, but you didn't care. All that matters to you is that I'm here. Yet, as I passed by the garden, there were some roses you loved and Sakura suggested that I should place them where you're resting. That bouquet I have, it's your birthday present from me. Consider it my first gift to you…”</p><p>“I wish you were alive when you got this. I wanted to see you smile at me and saying 'Thank you' over and over until Leo told you to stop.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red Like Roses

**Author's Note:**

> This assumes you've played Birthright completely. Also, Charlotte, Effie, Arthur, and Laslow have been spared in this story compared to their fates in Birthright.
> 
> Also, this fic relates to Elise and her birthday, though when thinking about what happens to her in Birthright... This happens.

 

_“_ _Hey big sister! Do you know what today is?” Elise asked her ivory haired sister._

_“Um… I don't know…” Corrin wasn't good at remembering dates nor time due to being locked inside the tower as long as she can remember. So she assumed that Elise is talking about an event since Elise has been a lot more happy and skipping across the halls more than usual. “Is it… Uh… Someone's birthday?”_

_“Yes! But who's?”_

_“Jakob's?”_

_“No, his was three months ago! Try again!”_

_“Felicia's_ _and_ _Flora's?”_

_“We celebrated their birthday just last month, silly!” Elise giggled at Corrin's attempts to remember who's birthday it is._

_“Er… I swear, if I just say another name, I'll most likely get it wrong. So, who's_ _birthday is_ _it?”_

_“Mine, silly!”_

_Oh, how silly of Corrin to forget her youngest sister's birthday! The only birthday she can remember, besides her own, was Leo's since their dates are exactly one day apart._

_But still, Corrin felt stupid as she didn't answer Elise on her first attempt! It was even clear when Jakob, Felicia, Flora, and Gunter greeted her more happily than usual and that Jakob gave her a new pair of bows for her large yet stylish pigtails._ _Along with that, instead of Felicia and Flora waking Corrin up, Elise literally made Corrin jump out of her bed with Elise bouncing up and down on her bed sheets!_ _How could she missed the signs anyway?!_

_“Oops. Well then, happy birthday, Elise,” Corrin happily told her youngest sister, pulling her a big hug to make up for not only having no gift for Elise, but for forgetting her birthday!_

_“Aww! Thanks, big sister!”_

_“Did you get anything from your older siblings?”_

_“Leo just gave me a boring book...”_

_Of course he would. Probably from his large collections of books that are even larger than the library._

_“Camilla gave me a lovely pink dress and Xander handed me my own weapon!”_

_“A weapon? Is it a tome like Leo's?” Corrin wondered, knowing that Elise is the only sibling that doesn't have a weapon compared to her other siblings. Xander had the legendary blade of darkness_ _Siegfried, Camilla wields both tomes and a heavy axe, Corrin is starting to master the blade like Xander, while Leo wields the legendary tome Brynhildr to go along with his mastery of magic._

_“Nope! It's a staff!” Elise shows her older sister a silver rod with a red jewel on top of it, with a bow tied to the center. Corrin has seen other staffs before, but Elise's staff is unlike others. For one, it's a lot shiny and seems to be custom made compared to the others. “Isn't it beautiful?”_

_“Yeah, it is...” Corrin agreed with Elise. “Did Xander made this?”_

_“Yes! It must have cost a lot of money to make this staff, but it's worth it as I love it!”_

_“Because it's pretty?”_

_“Well, yes, of course it is. But because what Xander told me why he choose a staff for me.”_

_“And that's...”_

_“I'm the one who makes their pain vanish when I'm here, just like how a staff heals wounds._ _**I'm Nohr's hidden light.** _ _”_

* * *

 

As she's holding on tightly to her husband's hand along with a bouquet of roses in three different colors on her free hand (red, pink, and white), Corrin is looking down at the numerous of tombs in the graveyard. The last time she's been there, there were only a few tombs with names she cannot recall nor remember due to her sheltered life. Now, there were more tombs filled with various of gifts and names that seemed to be familiar with. Especially those that died in front of Corrin.

_“Lady Corrin! Time to wake up!”_

_“I'm so happy, Lady Corrin!”_

_“Come back to us, little princess...”_

_“Big sister!”_

All of them who she knew for her entire life… Buried in the ground, never to be seen again. Just thinking about them makes Corrin grip the bouquet even tighter, her hands feeling the stinging of the sharp thorns that have pierced her, drawing out some blood. However, her sudden tight grip was noticed by her husband, Subaki. He knows exactly how tightly his wife grips his hand, and him feeling a bit of pain from her is a huge sign that something is wrong with Corrin.

And knowing where they're going, it's not too surprising. Earlier on this day, Corrin requested Subaki to take her to Nohr as she has something important to do there. Normally, he would question her as to why, but after noticing the date and the large bouquet of roses in her hands, he accepted her request, only if someone else came with them. And that someone ended up being Hinata of all people since he has nothing planned for today and can ride one of the Pegasus due to Subaki giving him lessons during the war.

Hinata should meet the couple a little later due to him not riding a Pegasus longer compared to Subaki or Hinoka, so Subaki decided to stop walking when he noticed his wife's actions.

“Darling, are you alright?” Subaki asked Corrin.

Letting go of her husband's hand, she attempted to smile at Subaki and told him, “I'm… I'm fin-”

“No you're not.” Subaki cut her sentence, noticing her stuttering in her sentence. “I know you're not yourself. You don't have to lie to yourself, nor hide your tears. We've been through a lot during the war, and this war hit everyone hard, especially you.”

Subaki has a point. Even though the war has ended, there were so many things and people Corrin has lost. First, her birth mother, Mikoto, sacrificed herself when an invisible figure attacked Hoshido and killed innocent people, including children. Feeling frustrated that the one she called 'father' for most of her life was responsible for this attack, Corrin sided with Hoshido, casting away the family she has known for her life. But siding with Hoshido means she has to fight against the people she has known, especially her adopted family.

And fighting them was no easy task. Even her loyal maid, Flora, attacked Corrin out of fear that King Garon would destroy the Ice Tribe if she doesn't kill Corrin. Guilty for fighting both her master and her younger sister, Felicia, she slowly burned herself to death, regretting the decision she has made. While fighting Hans, the man who killed Gunther, her loyal servant, Lilith, sacrificed herself to take the blow on what's supposed to end Corrin's life.

And Azura. The mysterious lost princess of Nohr, vanished after defeating Garon, in not only front of her, but her husband, Saizo. Sure, Saizo didn't shed any tears when his wife vanished, but after the war, he frequently visits her grave at the graveyard in Nohr, with Kaze coming with him at times.

But the hardest deaths were those who were around her for most of her life: Xander and Elise. Especially Elise, who took a deadly blow from Xander's sword that was meant to be for Corrin. Saddened and guilty for losing the only light of Nohr and killing his own sister, Xander silently accepted his fate and let Corrin slay him, still holding his sword in his hands until he cannot see anything.

And today happens to be March 19th: Elise's birthday. The day where Elise would wake up earlier than usual, jump on her sibling's beds to wake them up much to their annoyances (except Camilla), and slam a piece of cake onto Leo's or Xander's face. Whichever comes first.

But this year, none of it is going to happen. Corrin wonders if Camilla and Leo miss the feeling of Elise happily bouncing on their beds, along with the fact that they are going to visit her grave with a bouquet of Elise's favorite flowers to leave at her resting place.

Just remembering the events of the war and the memories of celebrating Elise's birthday made Corrin release her tears from her crimson eyes, burying her face to Subaki's chest and holding onto his shoulders. Subaki, in response, held her tightly, while whispering into her ear, “It's alright, darling. Let it all out.”

“Oh, gods… Elise, Xander… everyone...” Corrin sobbed as she almost lost her grip on the roses. “I promised myself when I sided with Hoshido… I won't hurt anyone in my family from Nohr, and look what happened!”

She remembered their last words before they passed away.

_“_ _Don't cry,_ _**little princess** _ _...”_ _Xander pleaded to Corrin._

_“Felicia…_ _Lady Corrin…_ _**I regret everything...** _ _”_ _Flora whispered as she slowly turned to ash._

_“Corrin…_ _**I love you...** _ _” Lilith smiled to her master before her eyes closed forever._

_“Yes…_ _How lovely...” Azura manage to say before she vanished into water._

_“_ _**Try to be at peace...** _ _”_ _Elise managed to say with her last breath._

“I broke my promise at protecting my family,” Corrin said, her tears still flowing from her eyes, and most likely soaked. “I let my older brother and little sister die when they didn't deserve to. Not only them, but Lilith, Flora, and Azura… they...”

Corrin didn't bother finishing her sentence as there were too many tears that were being held back from her red velvet eyes. She promised herself that she wouldn't cry when she arrived at Nohr, but so far, it's not working very well. It's just too much. All the people that Corrin cared for have died for the long-lasting peace the world has desired for years. And how about those she almost lost?

Sakura, Takumi, Hinoka, Ryoma? Her four long lost blood-siblings that have desired for her return for who knows how many years.

Silas? Her forgotten best friend that she almost executed because he was on the enemy side before she finally remembered him.

Kaze? Saizo's brother who almost died saving her from falling down a cliff after killing the leader of the wolfskin: Keaton.

Hinata? Her training partner and close friend who almost got himself killed by fighting off Xander's two retainers, Laslow and Peri, while Corrin escaped the theater with Kaze and Subaki.

And how about her husband, Subaki? He has done so much for her that almost cost his life. Escaping the theater before Xander can kill both of them, along with Kaze, protecting her from attacks coming from Camilla and Leo during their battles, and taking harsh slashes from King Garon's dragon form while Corrin was unconscious.

While she may have protected her friends, some old and most of them new, Corrin has failed to protect those she loved for her entire life.

“Corrin,” Subaki can only say to his sobbing wife. He honestly didn't know what to say next as he never lost anyone in his entire life. However, he almost lost his friends and the person he's suppose to protect. Not just Sakura, but Corrin as well.

Knowing what he's going to say next, Subaki embraced Corrin a little tighter, his arms wrapping around her shoulders instead of her waist. Corrin, noticing the change, looked up to her husband's dark red eyes, making eye contact towards her crimson eyes.

“Subaki...” Corrin whispered.

“Corrin, listen to me. I know losing your family and friends is unbearable for you, and I haven't lost anyone dear to me yet. But, I've almost lost my fellow friends many times during the war. And while I'm grateful they're alive, I sometimes dream that they die in the most gruesome ways and I couldn't do anything to save them. I wanted to, but in my dreams, I couldn't speak, close my eyes, or move my body freely. There's nothing I couldn't do but to just stay put and watch them die slowly.”

When Subaki meant by dear friends, he meant that he had to watch most of the royal members die: especially Sakura. And not just the royal family, but Hinata, Saizo, Azama, Oboro, and his partner, Hana.

“And there are some nights I dream of Sakura torn in half by a Faceless, Hinata getting stabbing by a katana several times before getting his head sliced off, or Oboro being burnt alive,” Subaki continued, his eyes slowly forming tears of his own, remembering his nightmares that kept him up some nights. “Sometimes, I get those dreams again. **But the worse one is losing you.** ”

“M-me?!”

“Yes, darling. Either getting stabbed by a sword, shot by many arrows before one lands at your heart, or worse… Getting killed by King Garon in the theater.”

The theater where the Hoshido army tries to take down King Garon, but failed and were forced to escape while the enemy swarms to attack them; especially Xander.

“There were more dreams of you getting killed in brutal ways, but I couldn't stand losing my wife in a brutal way,” Subaki whispered into Corrin's ear.

“Subaki… I never knew,” Corrin knows that Subaki has comforted her after losing her many family friends from Nohr during and after the war. She didn't know her husband suffered constant nightmares of his loved ones getting killed in gruesome ways. “Still, you aren't the only one who suffered from nightmares of loved ones. I had my fair share of them too.”

“Of course I remember. Especially...”

“Elise,” both of them said together. Subaki may have only met Elise for a short time, but from those few minutes with her, he can clearly say that Elise is just innocent, cheerful, and has a heart of gold like Sakura does.

“I haven't been to Elise's grave since the war ended, and today happens to be her birthday. I thought it would be nice to visit and leave her a present that she would have loved.”

“The roses that just bloomed?”

“Yes. I've never gave her a birthday present, so I thought...” she paused her sentence as she's having more happy memories with her entire family. The family that felt complete with Xander, Camilla, Leo, and especially Elise.

“I understand,” Subaki nodded and released Corrin from his arms. “Come on. Hinata should be at Elise's grave.”

They've been comforting each other for a little while that it must have bought some time for Hinata to catch up. Hand and hand, Corrin and Subaki made their way while passing by some of the tombstones that have names written in them that she recognized.

_Keaton, Benny,_ _Gunther, Peri, Flora, Lilith._

Forced to kill, never to be found again in the war, fought until the end…

_Azura._

Vanished for the good, never to be remembered but to her friends and her husband.

_Xander._

Her brother she has known for her whole life, forced to kill him to the battle to the death. Loved her, protected her, and cared for her. Gone.

And then, next to Xander's grave lays…

“LADY ELISE!”

As the two finally arrived at Elise's grave, they spotted a familiar figure, knees to the ground, hands covering his eyes and crying very loudly. Corrin remembers that blond figure as one of Elise's retainers: Arthur. When Corrin first met Arthur, he has endured many attacks from various soldiers and many slip ups of his own, but despite this, he managed to get up and continued to fight for their side, even if it means fighting against his own country. Elise described Arthur as a kind figure with a strong sense of justice, always helping those in need, weak or strong, but having the worse luck out of everyone in the world.

Bad luck being falling into water during battle, missing an archer that's standing still, or enduring Camilla's flaming magic. Three times. To the face.

But the absolute worse luck that can happen to Arthur is losing the royal member he's supposed to protect. When he heard the news that Elise has fallen, Arthur sobbed the most, being embraced and comforted by Effie of all people. And according to letters sent by Camilla, he's currently being reassigned as Leo's retainer, while Effie is with Camilla. As for Laslow, all that Camilla knows is that he has suddenly disappeared after the deaths of Xander and Peri.

Standing next to Arthur is Hinata, along with the pegasus he has flown with.

“I'm sorry we took so long,” Corrin apologized to Hinata, knowing that he had to wait for a while with Arthur, sobbing wildly like a baby.

“It's alright,” Hinata nodded his head. “I know you're visiting your sister's grave, and I thought you two needed some time before coming here.”

“Thanks for understanding.”

As Corrin was about to walk towards Elise's grave, Arthur looked up to see who's coming towards his former master's grave and noticed that it's Elise's older sister, carrying a bouquet of roses. Seeing her, Arthur placed his hand on Corrin's right shoulder before greeting her with, “Hello, Lady Corrin.”

Turning around, Corrin responded to the hero of justice, “No need to be formal with me, Arthur. Just Corrin will do.”

“My apologizes, La- I mean Corrin,” Arthur fixed his mistake. “I assume you're here to visit-”

“My sister? Yes, I am,” Corrin finished Arthur's sentence as she knelt down, placed the bouquet of roses to the ground, and clasped her hands together before closing her eyes. “Hi there, Elise. It's me, Corrin. I'm not alone. Your retainer is here, along with my husband, Subaki, and my friend, Hinata. You may remember them when we visited the underground capital, right?”

It hasn't been a couple of sentences since Corrin spoke to her deceased sister, yet Hinata is already sobbing silently after he remembered meeting with Elise. He remembered that he bought flowers from Elise to give to Oboro, despite the latter protesting not to. How can he say 'no' to an innocent and lovely face like Elise?!

“Well, I'm here to say Happy Birthday to you,” Corrin smiled as she looked at the bouquet she placed at Elise's grave. “I know I never gave you anything to you for your birthday like everyone else did, but you didn't care. All that matters to you is that I'm here. Yet, as I passed by the garden, there were some roses you loved and Sakura suggested that I should place them where you're resting. That bouquet I have, it's your birthday present from me. Consider it my first gift to you…”

As she continued to look at the roses, she paused as one tear fell down from her eye. “I wish you were alive when you got this. I wanted to see you smile at me and saying 'Thank you' over and over until Leo told you to stop.”

Subaki decided to kneel down, placing both of his hands on his wife's shoulders, silently comforting his wife as she might break down again in front of Elise's grave. Hinata followed suit, pulling out a small charm from his pockets that his wife, Oboro, made; featuring a cherry blossom and a pegasus. Arthur, meanwhile, tried to find something from both of his front pockets, pulling out nothing in both of them. He tried his back pocket, and to his own rare good luck, founded what he needed: a pair of black bows that Elise loved to wear.

“Lady Elise,” Arthur started to speak as he placed the twin bows on the ground, “I believe you are in the skies with your brother, watching me as I protect the citizens of Nohr. And praying my luck doesn't get worse with every day. Seriously, I almost lost your bows to a bunch of thieves. And when I got them back, some birds tried to get them and I almost got stung by a swarm of bees just to get your precious accessory.”

Corrin couldn't help but smile a little bit over Arthur's little story on getting Elise's bows back. He really knows how to make something so gloomy a little cheerful at times.

“But did your hero of justice give up? Of course not! I got them back before getting knocked out by a pegasus that's about to land.”

Hinata slapped himself in the face as he remembered he went too fast while riding the pegasus and ended up accidentally hurting Arthur. By some miracle, Arthur came out unharmed, mostly, and Hinata didn't fell to the ground like almost every time he rode a pegasus.

“Still, happy birthday my lady, and rest well. As long as I'm around, justice will continue to prevail in Nohr! I promise,” Arthur stated to Elise's grave.

Hinata, like his friends, knelt down to the ground and placed his charm onto the ground before he started his sentence, “Uh… I know we haven't known each other well, but I'm glad to have met you. I'm the guy that bought your flowers for my girl, Oboro. She told me she didn't want them, but I knew she's lying and ended up liking them in the end. And we thought we should give you something in return. So the gift we agreed on is a charm.”

He looked at the charm laying on the ground and remembered the discussion he was having with Oboro on what's going to be on the charm. Oboro wanted some flowers on them, but Hinata wanted some animal on there. This went on for ten minutes before the two decided to combine both of their ideas into making one of the best charms Oboro has made.

“Looks pretty, right?” Hinata asked to the grave, knowing there will be no answer nor noise besides the breeze and the sobbing from Arthur. “You probably would have said it's so adorable and gave me a hug. Maybe two, only that hug might be tighter. Anyway, you'll be fine knowing that peace has finally arrived in both Hoshido and Nohr.”

Subaki released his hands from Corrin's shoulders and took off the hair clip that's been holding his ponytail, his fingers brushing the free strands released from the hair clip with his fingers. But it's not the usual hair clip he's wearing daily. In fact, it's a gold hair clip that has a rose on it. Yes, it's a bit girly to some, but to him, it's perfect to him since Elise gave it to him before they left the house Elise was staying. And after witnessing her death, he wore the clip at least once a week… Until now.

“Elise, it's me: Subaki. Your sister's husband if you can recall,” Subaki said, slowly placing the hair clip next to the bouquet of roses. “I know we haven't gotten to know each other very well, but like my friend Hinata said, I'm glad to meet you. As I talked with you, I thought you would've made a perfect friend for Sakura. She probably needs another friend besides Hana, my partner, but I don't want to talk about my partner. Anyway, my wife misses you and constantly dreams about you. She has seen your death in her dreams, and there are some dreams where you die in a different way.”

Corrin remembers her dreams where Elise was featured in, and like Subaki mentioned, died in another fashion. One where she falls to her doom; the same bridge where Gunther died. Another where King Garon in his dragon form devoured Elise, starting with her head. And the worse one: Corrin slaying Elise with the Noble Yato. Just remembering those dreams can only make her shiver despite the lack of winds occurring as of now.

“But she's not the only one with nightmares. I have them too about losing your sister, along with my friends,” Subaki closed his eyes, recalling the gruesome images from his dreams. “It keeps me up some nights, thinking about losing them one day in ways that I don't want to talk about or even imagine.”

Subaki paused to take a deep breath before he finished talking to Elise's grave. “I know you want all of your remaining siblings to be alive and happy, especially Corrin. And I swear to the gods that I'll keep your hidden promise as long as I live. So Elise, I pray that you'll rest peacefully and happy birthday to you.”

Seeing everyone has made their words to Elise, Corrin decided to finish what she has started and spoke, “Everyone around you has gave you their best wishes to you, and me too as well. I really miss you, along with Xander. I wish we would be around at your room, eating your favorite dish and cake at the dining room giving you our presents and say 'Thank you' to each of us; even Leo who always gives you a book every year. But despite that, you were happy that everyone you love and care for is around you for the most important day. Again, I miss you. I dream of you, I still think of you, and I would always wonder if there's a way we can be together with everyone alive. And maybe, you and Sakura could become really good friends.”

Corrin stopped as she had some tears coming out of her eyes, being comforted by not only Subaki, but Hinata and Arthur as well, placing their hands on Corrin's shoulder, as to comfort her and telling her in body language that 'it'll be alright'.

“Well, I hope you'll sleep peacefully, along with everyone that has fallen in the war. I miss you, once again, and like everyone says to you, happy birthday, Elise.”

As she got up from the ground with the support of the three men, they walked away from Elise's grave filled with gifts and slowly went their separate ways. Arthur is making his way back to the castle, Hinata is hopping back onto his pegasus and follow Subaki's pegasus, while Subaki and Corrin are making their way back to their pegasus and guide Hinata back to Hoshido as there might be a chance that Hinata might get lost.

Before she got onto the pegasus and wrapped her hands onto Subaki's waist, she whispered to the winds, “I'll see you later, Elise.”

_“_ _Bye-bye, Corrin! Let's meet again and thank you for the gift!”_


End file.
